Name:
Time of Class:
Pop Music
1) Yes or No: Does this piece have easy to distinguish and more or less repetitive sections of music?
2) Does the meaning of the lyrics line up with the mood of the music? Why or why not?
3) What are the three most distinguishing (stand out) features of this music?
4) If you listen more closely, are there are any other interesting components (no matter how brief) of the music
that happens more or less in the background?
Name:
Time of Class:
Blues Music
1) Name as many musical components you can (aside from language where applicable) that you think
demonstrate this performances as representative of what you would think to be the blues music genre.
2) How would you characterize the mood of this music and the singing style? Does it fit the story the singer is
trying to convey? Why or why not?
3) Name and briefly describe three to five of the most distinguishing features of this song (good or bad).
4) Yes or No: Does this piece have easy to distinguish and more or less repetitive sections of music? Are the
sections as easy to distinguish as in the pop performance we did? Why or why not?
Name:
Time of Class:
Country Music
1) Name as many musical components you can (aside from language where applicable) that you think
demonstrate this performances as representative of the country music genre.
2) Does this piece have easy to distinguish and more or less repetitive sections of music? Yes or No
3) Jot down what you think the form was from beginning to end using chorus, verse, interlude, etc.
4) Does the meaning of the lyrics line up with the mood of the music? Why or why not?
5) Name and briefly describe three to five of the most distinguishing features of this song (good or bad).
Name:
Time of Class:
Rock Checklist
1) Name as many musical components you can (aside from language where applicable) that you think
demonstrate this performances as representative of the rock genre.
2) Does this piece have easy to distinguish and more or less repetitive sections of music? Yes or No
3) Jot down what you think the form was from beginning to end using chorus, verse, interlude, etc.
4) Does the meaning of the lyrics line up with the mood of the music? Why or why not?
5) Name and briefly describe three to five of the most distinguishing features of this song (good or bad).
Name:
Time of Class:
Rap Narrative
Now that you've answered a few examples in separate answer-form, you are going to attempt to put your
thoughts in a more flowing, narrative style. Remember, your job is to say what the song is, what it isn't and,
then, how you feel about the music given this information. Your narrative should focus on:
1) What do you think is the purpose of this music (background music, dancing, storytelling, experimental art
listening, etc.) and why?
2) Who do you think the song is aimed at, if anyone, and why?
3) In your opinion, what features happening in this music qualify it being a part of the rap genre? Be specific.
4) What are three to four components of the music that really stand out to you for better or worse and why?
5) How well do the lyrics line up with the musical techniques and overall musical mood?
6) Does this song seem to age itself at all? In other words, would you be able to tell that it wasn't written in the
past few years or so? Why or why not?
7) Did anything surprise you about the music/lyrics?
I'm only looking for two paragraphs or so here. You don't necessarily need to answer all of the questions and
definitely not in order. Just extract what you can from the song based on the questions above and communicate
your best reaction below.
Name:
Time of Class:
Ambient Narrative
Write two paragraphs below, based on the following questions:
1) What do you think is the point of this music and why?
2) Is this music just repetitive sound or is there artistry and depth at work? Explain either way.
3) This piece is ambient. Based on this example alone, what would you say are three features of the ambient
genre in general?
4) Does this song seem to age itself at all? In other words, would you be able to tell that it wasn't written in the
past few years or so? Why or why not?
5) Name and explain three components of this music that stood out the most to you.
6) Did anything surprise you about the music/lyrics?
Name:
Time of Class:
Classical Narrative
There are two pieces here. Deal with the pieces separately and together in your narrative as you see fit based on
the two sets of questions below:
Piece #1:
1) Describe the experience of listening to an operatic aria versus more radio friendly popular music?
2) How is the orchestra like or unlike the regular backing band you'd get in, say, rock music?
3) How well does the music fit the lyrics?
4) What is your feeling after the music ends?
(Incredible she's like eleven! What?!)
Close your eyes often (entirely even) when listening to this piece the first time. The next time, follow along with
the text. Then describe your reaction to this piece below. Why do you think the composer chose these sounds
for these words?
Name:
Time of Class:
World Narrative
Write two paragraphs below, based on the following questions:
1) What aspects of this music are similar to R&B and/or Pop music if any?
2) Name and describe three features in this music that you wouldn't normally find in Pop music in the U.S. aside from the language of course.
3)) What do you think are the three most defining features of this music and why?
Name:
Time of Class:
Jazz Narrative
Write two paragraphs below, based on the following questions:
1) What do you think is the point of this music? What are these musicians trying to do/achieve?
2) What is the general feel of this music? How is this achieved by the musicians?
3) What is the overall organization of the performance and hierarchy of the ensemble?
4) Do you notice the interaction between the background musicians and the soloist at given points? If so,
explain how so.
5) What do you think are the three best parts of this performance if you had to choose? Why?
6) Do you notice that this music utilizes more notes than most other music?
Name:
Time of Class:
R&B Narrative
1) What do you think is the purpose of this music (background music, dancing, storytelling, experimental art
listening, etc.) and why?
2) In your opinion, what features happening in this music qualify it being a part of the R&B genre over, say
rock? Be specific.
4) What are three to four components of the music that really stand out to you for better or worse and why?
5) How well do the lyrics line up with the musical techniques and overall musical mood?